Oedipus

Oedipus (1321 BC-) was King of Thebes from 1290 BC, succeeding Laius. Oedipus tragically and unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother Jocasta, fulfilling the Oracle of Delphi's prophecy, and his mother hanged herself after discovering that she had married her own son. He had his own uncle Creon exile him from Thebes, but his sons Eteocles and Polynices later inherited the throne.

Biography
Oedipus was the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. His father, afraid of a prophecy that his son would kill him and marry his wife, left Oedipus to die on a mountaintop, but a shepherd rescued Oedipus and took him to King Polybus of Corinth, who raised Oedipus as his own son. Years later, Oedipus himself was told of the prophecy by the Oracle at Delphi, and he was warned that, if he returned home, he would kill his father and marry his mother. Fearing that the prophecy was referring to Corinth, Oedipus fled to Thebes, ironically his true home. On the way to Thebes, he killed Laius during a dispute over right-of-way on the road, and he forced the king's attendant to spread the news that the king had been killed by a gang of robbers; he was unaware that the old man was a king. Upon entering the city, Oedipus correctly answered the Sphinx's riddle: the question was "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?", to which he answered, "Man - who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then uses a walking stick in old age". Oedipus was then elected King of Thebes and married the King's widow, Jocasta, unaware that he was marrying his mother. Years later, Oedipus investigated who had killed Laius, discovering that the old man whom he had killed was Laius; Jocasta realized that Oedipus was her son, and she hanged herself. Oedipus, in despair, begged his uncle Creon to exile him from Thebes forever, and he became a wanderer. King Theseus of Athens took care of Oedipus and his daughter Antigone, and Oedipus cursed his sons Eteocles and Polynices to kill each other, as they did not love him enough to take care of him. Oedipus died a peaceful death at an old age.